Oozie followed behind Allison as she stepped out. Talarin walked in front of the group and Nutina fell into step beside Allison. The much taller dragon woman looked down at Allison.

“I have seen the holos your fighter shared with representative Talarin. For an adolescent you have an impressive kill count. Taking on an Elite Warrior Drone in hand-to-hand combat, daring to fire particle beams with yourself so close to win the battle. You have the heart of a Silwrath Battlelord beating in that soft fleshy chest of yours. The Sal’nash are an enemy to all living things. You have done a great deed for all citizens of this galaxy.”

Allison sighed.

“One ship got away.”

Nutina patted Allison’s back.

“We are already trying to trace it. What you should focus on is that you destroyed a Super-Hive and several thousand other hives.”

Nutina clenched her fist.

“Detonating that much hyper-matter waste! Genius! Tell me, how did you deliver it? Did you blast your way through the hive spit in the Queen’s eye and drop it?”

Allison shook her head.

“No, I covered myself, the canister and Oozie in Sal’nash egg slime, then used a cloaking field. I was trying not to be noticed at all then Oozie goes off and tears out a drone’s throat… I was looking for the bridge… but found the Queen. The cloaking field wasn’t working at all. She spit acid. I dumped the antimatter… err hyper-matter waste and ran.”

Nutina rubbed her chin.

“Very shrewd tactics. Not precisely honorable but you were alone against hundreds of millions! The fight in that passageway where you made your last stand was glorious. Then blasting upwards using max thrust in atmosphere! Suicidal but effective. You must have killed thousands with that alone. Then igniting the outer atmosphere. Waiting for them to flee the planet and obliterating almost the entire fleet in one vicious strike.”

Nutina clenched her claw again.

“Glorious. Legendary! Your name will go down in history. Silwrath Trimarks will study this battle for centuries to come. One Synthlin starfighter and one pilot against an entire swarm of Sal’nash.”

Talarin looked back.

“I am sorry, young pilot, while your AI is fully functional, the fighter she resides in is no longer viable.”

Allison shrugged.

“Well, I put her through more then any ship has any right to survive. It is not unexpected.”

Allison looked down at her gore covered armor.

“So, is there a chance I can get freshened up or something… before I meet Countess Ruby?”

Talarin stopped in his tracks.

“Ruby? She lets you call her that?”

Allison nodded.

“She gave us her full title and name, then told us just to call her Ruby, or Countess Ruby.”

Talarin motioned to Nutina.

“The council is still in session for another hour. See to it she can get cleaned up. Provide her with the uniform we pulled out of her fighter.”

Allison held up a finger.

“Actually, I’ll use my armor… that is my school uniform and I uh, don’t want to explain to my leadership why I showed up in that.”

Talarin rubbed his encounter suit’s chin.

“No, Nutina, have her outfitted with the appropriate ADF uniform.”

Nutina bowed her head.

“As you say Representative.”

Nutina guided Allison into a transit tube and finally to a smaller sized crew’s quarters.

“Ensign… in your organization where do you fit?”

Allison bit her lower lip, it would be great to say Fleet Admiral, but she figured the truth was best for this particular situation.

“Imperial Silwrath fleet? I would be a Pilot junior grade.”

Nutina grinned showing her razor-sharp teeth.

“Indeed. ADF you would be a Wing Vanguard. I shall have a uniform prepared. Your belongings including your weapons have been delivered here. Well except the parasite, that is in hazardous storage. And of course the remains. How did you come into possession of her remains?”

Allison looked down at Oozie.

“Well, I wanted to lure the bulk of the Sal’nash forces out of the super hive so I set a trap on a crashed ship, everyone was dead except for this idiot here.”

She pointed at Oozie.

“She wouldn’t leave her former master. So, after I set the antimatter… hyper-matter waste charge there I carried the girl’s body to my ship so Oozie would follow me. I think Oozie figured out by the time we got there she was dead and started following me. I destroyed the rest of their remains in that explosion. The ship had crashed a few hours before I landed. The passengers either died in the crash or shortly after the cryo tubes opened. The atmosphere was pretty toxic to carbon-based life forms. I’m not sure how Oozie here survived. It was like ten percent oxygen levels.”

Nutina laughed.

“Genius! Go get cleaned up, you deserve it. We have some Yorleer under garment patterns in the fabricators, they should suit your body type. They are much the same size as you. If a little Greener.”

Allison shrugged and walked into the sonic shower. It worked much like the ones in the System’s Alliance save that it was designed for a seven-to-nine-foot-tall dragon person. She found what seemed to be an oddly shaped brush. She brushed out her hair and pulled it into a neat bun. When she left the washroom she found a full set of underwear and a uniform. The uniform was charcoal grey. It consisted of a skirt, Allison frowned at that, a jacket with a low collar. On the collar was a single holo pip already pinned on. There was a place for what appeared to be a squadron and ship badges on the jacket. The undershirt was white and much more functional than the System’s Alliance undershirt which were always collared and button up. This was a pullover with a low neck. It was finished off by a belt with a buckle displaying a human-looking hand, a Three-Fingered armored hand and finally a Silwrath hand all holding the same scepter. She shrugged and pulled on the belt. She hadn’t been finished getting dressed for long at all when Nutina showed up.

“Much better, well at least for the softies on the council. You seemed more comfortable in your armor.”

Allison looked down.

“It’s the skirt mostly? I don’t like them much, but all the uniforms seem to have them for women? Like why?”

Nutina’s wings twitched.

“My apologies Ensign, ADF has both for female officers, I assumed because your other uniform had one you preferred them.”

Allison glared at her school uniform.

“Nope, that is a stupid tradition that should have gone away a thousand years ago, but what can you do?”

Nutina chuckled and motioned for Allison to join her.

“This shouldn’t be much more than a formality my young friend. The Primarch and high council were having a bit of a fit after the holo and report. I talked them down.”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“A fit? Why?”

“Its of no importance. I told them how things are in combat situations. It has been a long time since we’ve seen any actual real battles beyond pirates and illegal mining operations. Such things as making the best choice out of a selection of bad choices get forgotten.”

Allison shrugged. Nutina sounded so sure of herself she had no reason to doubt the very large woman. Allison was led to a room with five pedestals, Representative Talerin, another purple Silwrath, the silver scale from earlier and finally Nutina joined the line of people. Nutina bowed her head to the larger Silwrath.

“Eminence.”

Allison glanced at him. That meant he was the equivalent of her grandfather. A fleet admiral. The Eminence looked Allison up and down he nodded to her. Allison didn’t know what to do so she saluted him at attention, then bowed her head.

“Eminence.”

He smiled, showing his teeth.

“Welcome Ensign.”

Allison heard a hum, then one by one each of the pads flared to life. A glowing hologram appeared on each. In the center was Rubina. Allison would know her face anywhere. To Rubina’s left were an orange scaled male Silwrath, and a green skinned humanoid woman, who besides the color of her skin and the shade of her hair could be a human. To Rubina’s right were a female Synthlin and a smaller humanoid rodent… possibly a squirrel or close to it. Rubina folded her hands in front of her and looked down at Allison.

“Ensign Allison Wanjala. The council is here to address the capital crimes you committed one standard month ago.”

Nutina stepped forward and opened her mouth. Rubina held up her taloned hand.

“First Trimark you have made your opinion abundantly clear; The High Council respectfully disagrees with your assessment.”

Rubina focused on Allison again who wanted to bolt at this point but wasn’t sure where she could go.

“Ensign, you stand accused of detonating not one, but two hyper-matter waste weapons of mass destruction. One that was so strong it registered on the opposite side of the galaxy and caused wide-spread disruption of the Leagues quantum entanglement communications network. Putting countless lives at risk. Both carry a maximum sentence of death. Finally, you stand accused of the destruction of a planet and all life on it. Also, a death offense. What do you have to say in your defense before we bring you to the council for judgment and sentencing?”

Allison opened and closed her mouth a few times, then realized Bit was probably watching this through her contacts. She whispered.

“Bit! Help!”

Rubina leaned down.

“What was that, Ensign? Speak up.”

Allison cleared her throat and decided to stall.

“Primarch, should I not have someone who knows your laws speak in my defense?”

Rubina shook her head.

“That is for the judgment phase. The council is here to determine if we should proceed. We are allowing you to explain your actions.”

Allison bit her lower lip. To do so she’d have to admit where their colonies were. She wasn’t ready to risk her parents’ lives for her own. Bit started printing text across Allison’s HUD. Allison breathed a sigh of relief and repeated what Bit was typing word for word.

“With all due respect, you and your council do not have any jurisdiction over these matters. These events took place in sovereign System’s Alliance space where I am fully authorized to use whatever force I deem necessary to protect my person, my ship, and the citizens of the System’s Alliance up to and including the use of weapons of mass destruction. I am fully trained and licensed in the use of hyper-matter waste-based weaponry and power systems as well as the transport, maintenance and disposal of hyper-waste storage vessels, this can be reviewed in my service record which can be made available with redactions for security reasons. The Sal’nash were a clear and present danger to myself, the citizens I am sworn to protect and all other life in this galaxy. Finally, this proceeding is taking place in said sovereign territory. If you wish to bring a formal complaint about my actions up with my commander, you may do so as per System’s Alliance laws. If you, or any of your citizens or corporate entities, have a claim to the rogue planet referenced in your charges they may bring it up with the System’s Alliance board of directors. As per System’s Alliance laws and directives.”

Rubina opened and closed her mouth a few times then turned to the council and said something.

“We are not aware of your System’s Alliance nor any of its claims to sovereign territory, this is and has been the domain of the League for tens of thousands of years.”

Allison started reading the new text Bit was providing.

“Lack of knowledge or of diplomatic ties are no excuse for you trying to enforce your will on our sovereign territory. As per your own League representative’s admission this sector was abandoned due to Sal’nash risk by your citizens and military for thousands of years. Our first base of operations was founded in this sector of the Andromeda Galaxy twenty-five of your years ago. Our settlements and other military facilities have all been in place for at least the last twenty years. As per your laws, any settlement or claim of territory that is not disputed within ten standard years is considered legally binding and valid. Our settlements and military installations span one thousand light years. Which this ship is currently in the center of without proper authorization. Even by League standards that could be considered an act of war. Your lack of will to deal with the Sal’nash is not our problem, you invading our territory with a heavily armed battlecruiser and imprisoning one of our citizens is our concern.”

Rubina consulted with the council again.

“And what of the disruption to our communications network?”

Allison continued reading.

“The System’s Alliance will undertake diplomatic negotiations to determine what, if any consequences or reparations will be undertaken.”

Rubina went to say something more. Allison held up her finger.

“I am not finished, Primarch. I let you speak, it is my turn now. I would like to address the crimes your League has committed within our sovereign territory. We have laws against the disposal of what you refer to as hyper-matter waste. The Synthlin left a galaxy disrupting mess in our territory with no plans for remediation or clean up. Individuals found illegally dumping hyper-matter waste could face the death penalty. Corporations and other entities could be fined up to one trillion credits per instance. The Synthlin dumped hundreds of thousands of canisters on the rogue planet. There is also a fine for improper storage of hyper-matter waste, one billion credits per instance. In addition, their reckless disposal of hyper-matter waste attracted a Sal’nash swarm to our sovereign space. Putting every single one of our citizens at risk. Some might say even an act of war! These are of course in addition to your unlawful invasion of our sovereign territory and the unlawful detainment of one of our citizens. While your rescue is appreciated the proper, legal course of action under galactic law, by League standards is to provide me with a transport ship to carry my fighter and all its proprietary technology back to a System’s Alliance controlled star system. And erasing all scans lest you be considered a hostile foreign power that is spying on us. I am finished now, Primarch.”

Rubina frowned. Her wings were drooped.

“We shall discuss this with the High Council and Parliament. Eminence Keer, please treat our guest as a foreign dignitary.”

Nutina crossed her arms and started to grin. The holograms vanished one after another. Eminence Keer chuckled. Talarin looked like he was about to faint. The silver scale wandered off after nodding to Talarin. Nutina pounded Allison on the back.

“I’ve never seen the Primarch flustered before! Surely your species must have masterful orators!”

Allison shrugged and whispered.

“Thanks, Bit.”

Bit printed, You’re welcome, very well spoken. I’d give you a pass on your presentation project coming up this semester. on her HUD.

Nutina laughed again. Keer looked amused as well. It appeared the warriors didn’t have much love for the politicians. Eminence Keer spoke.

“First Trimark, you are relieved of your normal duties until our guest is able to leave, please ensure our guest is comfortable and is well protected. Not that I think she requires it after her performance against the council, Sal’nash and your elite guard.”

He turned to Allison.

“Ensign, I am pleased to have met you. I would be honored to fight by your side one day. May fortune continue to favor you in your path to honor and glory.”

He closed his fist and slammed it on his chest plate. Allison stood at attention and saluted Alliance style. Keer moved off leaving Nutina and Allison alone.

“Let’s go get something to eat, and drink!”

Allison followed Nutina to the mess. The pair picked up food and sat down. A few Silwrath noticed them, then a few more. Eventually there was a crowd demanding to hear about her destruction of a Sal’nash swarm single handedly. After an hour most drifted off to their duties after sharing their own war stories. Nutina and Allison were talking about starfighter tactics when an alarm sounded. Eminence Keer was requesting their presence on the bridge. Nutina motioned for Allison to follow her, and the pair rushed to a transit tube. A few minutes later they walked out onto the bridge. On the main view screen was her Babu’s fleet they were approaching rapidly. The Eminence spun in his chair and looked at Allison.

“Are those System’s Alliance ships Ensign?”

Allison nodded.

“Could I trouble you to give us a communications band we can use to avoid a fight? We’re reading full shield and weapon charges.”

“Yes, Eminence may I have access to your comm’s station?”

He nodded and was about to point when he realized Allison was already replacing his comm’s officer. The comm’s officer stepped back when he realized Allison was familiar with their controls. She opened a link with her authorization code. Her Babu’s bridge appeared on the view screen. He didn’t notice Allison immediately and addressed Keer.

“Eminence, you are in System’s Alliance space. We consider this an act of war. Stand down and prepare to be boarded. There is no need for loss of life today.”

Keer grinned showing his teeth.

“Oh, how I would love this challenge, unfortunately we already have one of your representatives on board who would like to speak to you.”

Keer motioned to Allison who stood up and walked to the center of the bridge. She saluted.

“Skull Ten reporting in, sir, sorry I am out of uniform. It could not be helped. Eminence Keer and his crew rescued myself, Bit, and my new friend here. They have treated me as an honored guest and fellow soldier. I can confirm they have not powered weapons; Sir and they are here to investigate the antimatter device I detonated. It disrupted their communications network. They had no intent to violate our sovereign space.”

Allison motioned to Oozie. The look of relief that showed on her Babu’s face melted Allison’s heart. Her Babu ordered his ships to power down weapons.

“We were worried about you Skull Ten. I expect a full report on your return. In the meantime, I believe the Eminence and I should have a private conversation after I report to command. You are cleared for landing once you are able to launch.”

Allison stood at attention and saluted.

“Sir, my fighter is inoperable due to battle damage. I will require transport for it and myself.”

Her Babu nodded.

“Very well, Skull Ten. You are dismissed.”

Allison saluted again she looked at Keer.

“You may go, First Trimark, Ensign. You are free to roam the ship, so long as the First Trimark is with you.”